captain awesome
Member
*I was going to post this in the other thread, but as the post got longer and more detailed I thought it deserved its own thread.
I received my Henry Big Boy Revolver Birdshead model today. Here are the basics;
The DA trigger is heavy, but not gritty. It feels like an average amount of travel for a double action revolvers trigger pull, maybe a bit on the short side. It's not terrible, but not great. I think it could benefit a lot from some lighter springs and a good workout, maybe a polish job on the internal parts.
The single action trigger is very good. Virtually no take up it's light and breaks clean. It doesn't have much over travel either. I think they did a very good job on it.
The frame is steel, not pot metal. It's looks to me like a "satin" finish. Shinier than matte but not really glossy, definitely not a mirror polish blue. The cylinder is more polished than the rest of the steel parts. The parts fits together very well, though not "seamless".
The grips fit on the gun well, most people would consider it fine. It's not a seamless custom fit, it's what you would expect for something mass produced. They are very nice grips however, nicely finished and fit my hand very well. They feel good in hand.
The brass is lovely, I personally think it adds a nice touch, most photos don't do it justice.
The cylinder stop does leave a turn line.
Both the hammer and trigger appear to be Metal Injection Molded parts.
The cylinder release is stiff, not smooth. Hopefully it will smooth out over time.
The sight picture is one that lends itself more to precision than speed. It's a narrow front sight blade, and the rear notch is small. I like them, as I enjoy shooting handguns at farther distances than most people.
One thing of note, the ejector star fits over a small protrusion, I'll call it an alignment pin. The star gets hung up on it sometimes, when reseating itself in the cylinder. I think it is something that will correct itself with use, once it is broken in. All it requires is a little tap or push, rotating it one way or the other to get it to seat itself properly. *Addition; after messing with it a dozen or so times and pushing it down with a little bit of force while rotating the star, it seems to have "mated" the parts and isn't an issue anymore.
Inside The barrel the rifling looks good, and there are no machining or chatter marks to be found. The chambers could use some polishing in my opinion, but we'll see how it handles extracting empty casings when I take it out on Saturday morning.
the cylinder to barrel gap measures .006"
The cylinder rotates and locks in place long before the hammer travels all the way back. I think it is unlikely this revolver will ever have timing issues.
The cylinder lock up is pretty good. Very slight rotational motion, no front to back end shake. It is on par with a tight Smith and Wesson, not bank vault locked like a Colt Python or Freedom Arms.
Over all the Big Boy Revolver seems very well made, feels sturdy and good in my hand. I believe it to be worth what they are charging for them. As far as aesthetics, it is not as pretty as some other revolvers out there, it won't win any beauty pageants but it is growing on me. I can say the pictures really aren't doing it any favors. It looks much better in person, it has an almost old world elegance about it. This is of course subjective, but I like it and I will be purchasing the square grip model as well, so long as it performs well this Saturday.
I will report back after I fire it!
I received my Henry Big Boy Revolver Birdshead model today. Here are the basics;
The DA trigger is heavy, but not gritty. It feels like an average amount of travel for a double action revolvers trigger pull, maybe a bit on the short side. It's not terrible, but not great. I think it could benefit a lot from some lighter springs and a good workout, maybe a polish job on the internal parts.
The single action trigger is very good. Virtually no take up it's light and breaks clean. It doesn't have much over travel either. I think they did a very good job on it.
The frame is steel, not pot metal. It's looks to me like a "satin" finish. Shinier than matte but not really glossy, definitely not a mirror polish blue. The cylinder is more polished than the rest of the steel parts. The parts fits together very well, though not "seamless".
The grips fit on the gun well, most people would consider it fine. It's not a seamless custom fit, it's what you would expect for something mass produced. They are very nice grips however, nicely finished and fit my hand very well. They feel good in hand.
The brass is lovely, I personally think it adds a nice touch, most photos don't do it justice.
The cylinder stop does leave a turn line.
Both the hammer and trigger appear to be Metal Injection Molded parts.
The cylinder release is stiff, not smooth. Hopefully it will smooth out over time.
The sight picture is one that lends itself more to precision than speed. It's a narrow front sight blade, and the rear notch is small. I like them, as I enjoy shooting handguns at farther distances than most people.
One thing of note, the ejector star fits over a small protrusion, I'll call it an alignment pin. The star gets hung up on it sometimes, when reseating itself in the cylinder. I think it is something that will correct itself with use, once it is broken in. All it requires is a little tap or push, rotating it one way or the other to get it to seat itself properly. *Addition; after messing with it a dozen or so times and pushing it down with a little bit of force while rotating the star, it seems to have "mated" the parts and isn't an issue anymore.
Inside The barrel the rifling looks good, and there are no machining or chatter marks to be found. The chambers could use some polishing in my opinion, but we'll see how it handles extracting empty casings when I take it out on Saturday morning.
the cylinder to barrel gap measures .006"
The cylinder rotates and locks in place long before the hammer travels all the way back. I think it is unlikely this revolver will ever have timing issues.
The cylinder lock up is pretty good. Very slight rotational motion, no front to back end shake. It is on par with a tight Smith and Wesson, not bank vault locked like a Colt Python or Freedom Arms.
Over all the Big Boy Revolver seems very well made, feels sturdy and good in my hand. I believe it to be worth what they are charging for them. As far as aesthetics, it is not as pretty as some other revolvers out there, it won't win any beauty pageants but it is growing on me. I can say the pictures really aren't doing it any favors. It looks much better in person, it has an almost old world elegance about it. This is of course subjective, but I like it and I will be purchasing the square grip model as well, so long as it performs well this Saturday.
I will report back after I fire it!
